US signs treaty on arms trade
THE US yesterday signed a landmark UN treaty regulating the conventional arms trade, joining 89 other countries in support of an effort to curb the proliferation of conventional weapons.
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s administration yesterday signed a landmark United Nations (UN) treaty regulating the conventional arms trade, joining 89 other countries in support of an effort to curb the proliferation of conventional weapons, despite opposition at home from powerful groups such as the pro-gun National Rifle Association.
The treaty would create a framework for regulating the $90bn a year conventional arms business. It would require signatory states to ensure tanks, warships, small arms (pistols and rifles) and other weapons would not be sold to parties that were intent on committing genocide, terrorism or infringing on human rights.
The US is the world’s largest exporter of conventional arms, and Secretary of State John Kerry’s signature on the Arms Trade Treaty was considered symbolic.
US laws on arms exports are more stringent than the treaty itself mandates, and the Senate has to pass a resolution supporting the treaty by a two-thirds majority in order for the US to ratify it.
Mr Kerry, signing on behalf of the US in an oversized book at the UN headquarters, called the treaty a “significant step” for global peace efforts. “This is about keeping weapons out of the hands of terrorists and rogue actors,” he said. “This treaty strengthens our security and builds global security without undermining the legitimate international trade in conventional arms.”
While his signing won praise from human rights groups his move was harshly criticised by leaders of the pro-gun lobby in the US, who said the treaty is a way for legislators to circumvent the second amendment. The constitutional provision gives Americans the right to bear arms.
Mr Kerry devoted much of his comments to assuaging concerns inside the US, where the weapons industry holds significant political sway. “This treaty will not diminish anyone’s freedom,” he said.
“In fact, the treaty recognises the freedom of both individuals and states to obtain, possess and use arms for legitimate purposes.”
A US signature on the treaty could also help western countries press to curtail Russian arms sales to Syria, where President Bashar alAssad’s government has been accused of widespread abuses in more than two years of civil war.
If the Senate refuses to ratify the treaty, the US could face the same situation as under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, in which it participates in talks but is not part of the agreement. The US hesitated at finalising the arms treaty as Mr Obama faced re-election last year.
But the US was part of efforts that sealed the treaty in April, with only three states — Iran, North Korea and Syria — in opposition. The final tally was 154 in favour and 23 abstentions. Fifty are still needed to ratify it for it to go into effect. So far only four have done so. JERUSALEM — A charm offensive by Iran’s new president and his nuanced approach to his predecessor’s holocaust denial have run into an Israeli wall of suspicion hardened by Tehran’s nuclear pursuits.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week Israel would not be fooled by Hassan Rouhani’s international outreach and the world must not be either.
Mr Netanyahu’s aides described his coming trip to the US as a mission to unmask Iran’s new government. The West sees Mr Rouhani as a potentially promising partner for negotiations to stop what it fears is a drive to develop nuclear weapons.
“We’ve anticipated ever since Rouhani’s election that there would be American dialogue with Iran,” said a senior Israeli official taking part in the annual United Nations forum. “Our goal is to ensure these talks, if they happen, are matched with action soon. The Iranians are smiling, but they’re still cheating, and that has to be exposed.”
Italy yesterday became the fifth country to ratify the treaty. Italy is the first European Union government to do so.
Italy is the eighth-biggest arms exporter in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which keeps detailed data. Its handguns, highprecision artillery systems and attack helicopters are particularly prized, and it has in the past supplied arms to deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Advocates for the treaty said they expected more than 100 countries to
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Israel, which is assumed to have the region’s only nuclear arsenal, demands a total rollback of Iran’s nuclear projects, including uranium enrichment and plutonium production that could arm a bomb.
Mr Netanyahu would point out to President Barack Obama on Monday what he sees as Iranian duplicity aimed at ending punishing western sanctions while entering the final stretch towards nuclear weapons and regional dominance.
Mr Rouhani said in his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday that Iran was ready to engage in “result-oriented” talks on the nuclear programme while offering no concessions. He reiterated that Iran’s goals were peaceful and said nuclear weapons had no place in his country’s doctrine.
He caused a stir when he declined to meet privately with Mr Obama, but said later “we didn’t have sufficient time” to co-ordinate a meeting. sign it by the end of yesterday, which comes during the annual UN General Assembly summit.
Frank Januzzi, deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA, called the move “a very significant win for 20 years of human rights activism”, by his organisation and other groups in favour of gun control.
In the US, Republican senator James Inhofe promised the treaty would “collect dust” along with other UN treaties rejected by the Senate. This was because it would “threaten our country’s sovereignty”.